MINNEAPOLIS _ The Twins own the best record in the American League, and it's no longer possible to argue that an easy schedule is the reason why.
Jason Castro homered, doubled and drove in four runs, Byron Buxton tripled home a run and made another spectacular running catch, and Jose Berrios seemed to work his way into and out of trouble on a whim. It all added up to an 8-2 victory over the Houston Astros in Target Field on Thursday, and an impressive victory in the season series against a true pennant contender.
Houston's stated goal for 2019, two seasons after its World Series championship, is to "Take It Back," as posters plastered around its home park exhort, and if that's the level the Astros aspire to, the Twins have to be wondering whether they can challenge for one, too. Minnesota took three out of four games from the former champs this week, and most heartening is how they did it.
The Twins and Astros scored 15 runs apiece in the series, but only because Houston's lone victory, against Michael Pineda, the Twins' shakiest starting pitcher thus far, was an 11-0 blowout. Jake Odorizzi, Martin Perez and Berrios, on the other hand, held the team with the league's highest batting average to two runs and 15 hits over 22 innings, a 0.82 ERA.
The Twins' offense has been billed as a powerhouse since Fort Myers, and sure enough, Minnesota reeled off seven extra-base hits Thursday, including Castro's third home run of the season. But if the pitching can hold up this week against the AL's elite, the Twins' chances of winning their first division title in nine years greatly increase.
Then again, they're spending this weekend at their own House of Horrors: Yankee Stadium, where the Twins have lost 11 of their last 12 games.
Berrios allowed a first-inning home run to Alex Bregman, and allowed runners to reach second base in the second and third innings. But he worked out of trouble each time, and once settled in, retired 12 straight hitters _ one of them, Yuli Gurriel, on a dead-sprint-and-jump catch by Buxton at the wall in right-center. Three straight singles and a sacrifice fly in the seventh cost Berrios a second run, but he retired George Springer on a routine fly ball to avoid letting the Astros rally.
The Twins put the game away with a six-run fourth inning off Astros' starter Brad Peacock. Castro doubled home two runs, and finished with a career-high four RBIs, and Buxton followed with a triple to drive Castro home. Back-to-back doubles by Jorge Polanco and Nelson Cruz completed the big inning.
At 19-10, the Twins hold a three-game lead over Cleveland. Only the St. Louis Cardinals, who are 20-10 in the National League Central, have a better record five weeks into the season.
